important because if the taxes are raised, the republicans want to be able to argue they were able to cut government spending. while this isn't the most important parnt. there's much more to look at, the goal being sunday. >> thanks, kelly. my eyes didn't glaze over. it's hard not to conclude he's the first casualty of war. boehner put it forward. since then he's been more of an observer than a player in this crisis. joining me now to talk about boehner's fate. i want to start with you. john boehner as we heard from kelly o'donnell is going to have to face meeting democrats if we have a deal. then he's going to have to go back to his caucus and say re-elect me as speaker. how does he do that? >> i think it's two separate questions, richard. on the first point he's going to have a difficult time to corral votes. if the president bring his 250 plan to the house floor, you're not going to see many republicans go after it. but at the same time i think boehner is pretty safe when it comes to his speakership. if gentlemen were making noise against the speaker, there would be huge trouble. i think boehner'